At the beginning of this special election sprint, the matchup looked promising: the dean of the state’s House delegation, a pillar of the Democratic establishment, challenged by a handsome young Republican newcomer with a military background. Republicans hoped they had another Scott Brown. Democrats hoped they had another Ted Kennedy.

But the candidates didn’t deliver and the voters never got excited. Some of that, I fear, might be by design.

Gomez made a nice first impression, but didn’t show much spark on the campaign trail. He memorably called Markey “pond scum” early in the campaign, but learned his lesson and never said anything memorable the rest of the way.

His campaign in a nutshell: I’m an ex-Navy SEAL. I’m a second generation Hispanic-American. I made a lot of money in business. Ed Markey has been in Washington 37 years and look at the mess we’re in.

Gomez wears his Navy flight jacket everywhere and keeps reminding people of the “unique perspective” he has on anything because he used to be a SEAL, but he refuses to say what he did in the War on Terror. Nor will he say what he’s done at the investment firm where he works. He’s something of a mystery man, with no experience, no record and no coherent ideology.

But 37 years is a long, long time to be in Congress. He’s certain on that.

Gomez didn’t have his own base in the state Republican Party, and his embrace of Democratic positions on issues like gay marriage and climate change hasn’t exactly fired up the tea partiers. The national GOP and the big-money PACS mostly decided to sit this one out, and a lot of local Republicans may have come to the same conclusion.

Markey hasn’t had a tough campaign for at least 30 years, and it shows on the trail. As a candidate, he’s long on resume and short on charisma.

For some reason, Markey decided to make his campaign more about his opponent than about himself. In debates and in his advertising, he has focused on two national issues – gun control and abortion – that he’s been making speeches about since he went to Washington during the Ford administration (when, Gomez likes to mention, he was playing little league baseball).

Markey’s campaign in a nutshell: I’m pro-life and Gomez is less so. NRA now stands for “Not Relevant Anymore.” Gomez favors millionaires and will vote for Mitch McConnell as Senate leader. I’m a Democrat and true to my team.

Page 2 of 2 - It’s a cynical campaign I sense is being run by professionals from out-of-state, operating from some poll-driven, hot-button playbook. It largely ignores Markey’s long list of legislative accomplishments and fails to highlight the huge gap in experience between him and his opponent. It’s negative and it’s repetitive.

Markey is an interesting guy who has done important work in Washington. In Congress, there are those who write legislation and those who just vote on legislation. Markey writes laws, ones that are worth campaigning on.

Markey has a story to tell about jobs – and jobs are more on voters’ minds than ‘70s-era culture wars. Most of what Markey has pushed in Congress ties directly to the Massachusetts economy: telecommunications reform, green energy, medical research, the grants and loan guarantees through which government encourages economic development.

Markey is an unabashed proponent of activist government. He’s a national leader on telecommunications, on privacy rights, on climate change. But you wouldn’t know it from his campaign, or from his opponent’s.

The supposedly independent groups that have joined the fray share in Markey’s cynical gameplan: My mail this week included four or five glossy mailings from the League of Conservation Voters, which backs Markey because of his climate change advocacy. All blasted Gomez over guns and abortion. None of them mentioned conservation or climate change.

Both the Markey and Gomez campaigns have been criticized for being too low-key. The candidates’ private meetings, with donors, volunteers and interest groups, outnumber their public appearances. The outward trappings of a big campaign – rallies, lawn signs, bumper stickers – have been hard to find.

It’s part of the new style of campaigning, which is all about social media, voter contacts and micro-targeting constituencies. It’s not about changing people’s minds; it’s all about getting their voters out, and hoping everyone else stays at home.

The political consultants may get their wish. Secretary of State William Galvin reports requests for absentee ballots are running 22 percent below the last special Senate election. People are more focused on the end of the school year, the Whitey Bulger trial and the Stanley Cup, he said.

Yes, there’s “voter fatigue,” what with all the intense races of the last few years, but instead of blaming the voters, the political insiders ought to look in the mirror. The voters aren’t excited because the candidates and their campaigns aren’t giving them anything to be excited about. Their cynicism breeds our apathy.

No more Senate elections for awhile, please.

Rick Holmes, opinion editor for the Daily News, blogs at Holmes & Co. He can be reached at rholmes@wickedlocal.com.